WAR     INFORMATION     SERIES 
-^ 

No.  3  J*  August,  1917 


7 


THE  GOVERNMENT 
OF  GERMANY 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


AA    000  622  755    7 

By 

CHARLES  D.  HAZEN 

PROFESSOR  OF  EUROPEAN   HISTORY 
COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY 


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Published  by  COMMITTEE  ONjPUBLIC  INFORMATION.  Washington,  D.  C. 


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I.    Red,  White,  and  Blue  Series: 

No.  1.  How  the  War  came  to  America  (English,  German, 
Polish,  Bohemian,  Italian,  Spanish,  and  Swedish). 

No.  2.  National  Service  Handbook  (primarily  for  libraries, 
schools,  Y.  M.  C.  A.'s,  clubs,  fraternal  organiza- 
tions, etc.,  as  a  guide  and  reference  work  on  all 
forms  of  war  activity — civil,  charitable,  and  mili- 
tary. 

No.  3.  The  Battle  Line  of  Democracy.  Prose  and  Poetry  of 
the  Great  War. 

No.  4.  The  President's  Flag  Day  Speech  with  Evidence  of 
Germany's  Plans. 

No.  5.  Conquest  and  Kultur,  the  Germans'  Aims  in  Their  Own 
Words,  by  Wallace  Notestein  and  Elmer  E.  Stoll. 
Other  issues  in  preparation. 


n.    War  Information  Series: 

No.  101.  The  War  Message  and  Facts  Behind  It. 

No.  102.  The  Nation  in  Arms,  by  Secretaries  Lane  and  Baker. 

No.  103.  The  Government  of  Germany,  by  Prof.  Charles  D. 

Hazen. 
No.  104.  The  Great  War:   from  Spectator  to  Participant. 
No.  105.  A  War  of  Self-Defense,  by  Secretary  Lansing  and 

Assistant  Secretary  of  Labor  Louis  F.  Post. 
No.  106.  American  Loyalty  by  Citizens  of  German  Descent. 
No.  107.  Amerikanische  Biirgertreue,  a  translation  of  No.  6. 
No.  108.  American  Interest  in  Popular  Government  Abroad, 

by  Prof.  E.  B.  Greene. 
No.  109.  Home  Reading  Course  for  Citizen  Soldiers. 
No.  110.  First  Session  of  the  War  Congress,  by  Charles  Merz. 

Other  issues  will  shortly  appear. 

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THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  GERMANY.^ 


By  Charles  D.  IIazen.  Professor  of  European  History, 
Col u nth ia  Un iversiti). 

THE  President  of  the  United  States  in  his  address 
to  Congress  on  April  2  announced  that  our  object  in 
entering  the  war  against  Germany  was  ''to  vindi- 
cate the  principles  of  peace  and  justice  in  the  life  of  the 
world  as  against  selfish  and  autocratic  power;"  declared 
that  the  menace  to  the  world's  peace  and  freedom  "lies  in 
the  existence  of  autocratic  governments,  backed  by  organ- 
ized force  which  is  controlled  wholly  by  their  will,  not  by 
the  will  of  their  people;"  announced  that  **a  steadfast  con- 
cert for  peace  can  never  be  maintained  except  by  a  part- 
nership of  democratic  nations,"  as  *'no  autocratic  govern- 
ment could  be  trusted  to  keep  faith  within  it  or  observe  its 
covenants;"  stated  the  grounds  for  his  conviction  that 
"the  Prussian  autocracy  was  not  and  could  never  be  our 
friend;"  said  that  we  were  now  about  to  accept  the  gauge 
of  battle  with  "this  natural  foe  to  liberty,"  and  that  we 
would  if  necessary  "spend  the  whole  force  of  the  nation 
to  check  and  nullify  its  pretensions  and  its  power."  He 
referred  to  the  German  Government  as  "an  irresponsible 
government  which  has  thrown  aside  all  considerations  of 
humanity  and  of  right  and  is  running  amuck;"  and  declared 
that  tlie  war  was  a  war  for  democracy  and  elementary  human 
rights  and  for  the  liberation  of  the  peoples,  including  the 
German  peoples. 

"Was  the  President  speaking  soberly  and  fairly  when  he 
described  the  Prussian  Government  as  an  autocracy  and  the 
German  Government  as  irresponsible?  Was  this  arraign- 
ment as  accurate  and  just,  as  it  certainly  was  scathing? 
Can  one  say  that  a  people  is  ruled  autocratically  when  they 
are    endowed    with    written    constitutions,    have    parliaments 

*  Revised  and  reprinted  from  the  New  York  Times,  July  1,  1917. 
3SS7°— 17  3 


1  Ji't; 


THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   GERMANY. 


for  their  individual  states  and  for  their  nation  as  a  whole, 
have  frequent  elections,  in  which  political  parties  wrangle 
with  each  other,  and  enjoy,  or  at  least  possess,  the  right  to 
vote  ? 

The  German  Empire  is  a  confederation,  founded  in  1871, 
and  founded  by  the  princes,  not  by  the  people,  and  consists 
of  25  States  and  one  Imperial  Territory,  Alsace-Lorraine. 
The  King  of  Prussia  is  ipso  facto  German  Emperor.  The 
legislative  power  rests  with  two  bodies,  the  Bundesrat,  or 
Federal  Council,  and  the  Reichstag.  The  Emperor  declares 
war  with  the  consent  of  the  Bundesrat,  the  assent  of  the 
Reichstag  not  being  required.  Not  even  the  Bundesrat 
need  be  consulted  if  the  war  is  defensive,  and  as  the  Hohen- 
zollerns  have  alwaj^s  claimed  to  make  defensive  warfare  it  is 
not  surprising  that  even  the  unrepresentative  Bundesrat 
was  officially  informed  about  the  present  war  three  days 
after  the  Emperor  declared  it.  He  is  commander  in  chief 
of  the  army  and  navy,  he  has  charge  of  foreign  affairs,  and 
makes  treaties,  subject  to  the  limitation  that  certain  kinds  of 
treaties  must  be  ratified  by  Parliament.  He  is  assisted  by 
a  chancellor,  whom  he  appoints  and  whom  he  removes,  and 
who  is  responsible  to  him  and  to  him  alone.  Under  the 
chancellor  are  various  secretaries  of  state,  who  simply  ad- 
minister departments,  but  who  do  not  form  a  cabinet,  either 
in  the  English  or  French  or  American  sense.  They  are 
responsible  to  the  chancellor. 

The  laws  that  govern  the  German  Empire  are  made  by  two 
bodies — the  Bundesrat  and  the  Reichstag.  The  Bundesrat, 
of  which  we  in  America  hear  very  little,  is  the  most  powerful 
body  in  the  Empire,  far  more  powerful  than  the  Reichstag, 
of  which  we  hear  a  great  deal.  It  possesses  legislative, 
executive,  and  judicial  functions,  and  is  a  kind  of  diplomatic 
assembly.  It  represents  the  States;  that  is,  the  rulers  of 
the  25  States  of  which  the  Empire  consists.  It  is  composed 
of  delegates  appointed  by  the  rulers.  Unlike  the  Senate 
of  the  United  States,  the  States  of  Germany  are  not  repre- 
sented equally  in  the  Bundesrat,  but  most  unequally. 
There  are  61  members.  Of  these  Prussia  has  17,  and  the 
3  votes  allotted  to  Alsace-Lorraine  since  1911  are  "in- 
structed" by  the  Emperor.    Thus  Prussia  has  20.    Bavaria 


THE   GOVERNMENT   OP    GERMANY,  5 

has  6,  Saxony  and  AViirteinberg  4  each,  others  3  or  2,  and 
17  of  the  States  have  only  1  apiece.  The  members  are 
i-cally  diplomats,  reprcsiMiting  the  numerous  monarchs  of 
Germany. 

They  do  not  vote  individually,  but  each  State  delegation 
votes  as  a  unit  and  as  the  ruler  orders  it  to.  Thus  the  votes 
that  Prussia  controls  are  cast  alwaj's  as  a  unit  and  as  the 
King  of  Prussia  directs.  The  Biindesrat  is  in  reality  an 
assembly  of  the  sovereigns  of  Germany.  It  is  responsible 
to  nothing  on  earth,  and  its  powers  are  very  extensive.  It 
is  the  most  important  element  of  the  legislature  as  most 
legislation  begins  in  it,  its  consent  is  necessary  to  all  legisla- 
tion, and  every  law  passed  by  the  Reichstag  is,  after  that, 
submitted  to  it  for  ratification  or  rejection.  It  is,  therefore, 
the  chief  source  of  legislation.  The  Princes  of  Germany  have 
an  absolute  veto  upon  the  only  popular  element  in  the  gov- 
ernment, the  Bcichstag.  Representing  the  Princes  of  Ger- 
many, the  Bundcsrat  is  a  thoroughly  monarchical  institu- 
tion, a  bulwark  of  the  monarchical  order.  The  proceedings  of 
this  princely  assembly  are  secret  which  is  one  reason  why  we 
know  and  hear  less  about  it  than  we  do  about  the  Reichstag. 

]\ruch  less  important  than  the  Bundesrat  is  the  Reichstag, 
the  only  popular  element  in  the  government  of  the  Empire. 
It  consists  of  397  members,  elected  for  a  term  of  five  years 
by  the  voters;  that  is,  by  men  25  years  of  age  or  older.  The 
powers  of  the  Reichstag  are  vastly  inferior  to  the  powers  of 
tlie  House  of  Commons  or  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  or  the 
House  of  Representatives.  While  it,  in  conjunction  with 
the  Bundcsrat,  votes  the  appropriations,  certain  ones, 
notably  those  for  the  army,  are  voted  for  a  period  of  years. 
Its  consent  is  required  for  new  taxes,  whereas  taxes  previously 
levied  continue  to  be  collected  without  the  consent  of  Parlia- 
ment being  again  secured. 

The  Reichstag  has  no  power  to  make  or  unmake  ministries, 
in  other  w^ords,  to  control  the  executive,  the  Emperor.  It 
may  reject  the  measures  demanded  by  the  Government,  it 
may  vote  what  amounts  to  a  lack  of  confidence  in  the 
Chancellor,  but  to  the  Chancellor  it  makes  notoriously  little 
difference.  As  long  as  he  enjoys  the  confidence  of  the 
Emperor  he   continues  on   his   way.    Bismarck   was   fond   of 


'6  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF    GERMANY. 

repeating  from  the  tribune  that  he  was  not  the  servant  of  the 
Reichstag,  but  exclusively  of  the  Crown.  The  imperial  will 
determines  the  fate,  the  rise  and  fall  of  the  Chancellor. 

Bethmann-IIolIweg  was  the  Emperor's  man  in  body  and 
soul.  No  velleity  of  independence  ever  surged  up  in  that  sub- 
missive bosom.  A  bureaucrat  of  40  years'  standing,  advancing 
by  regular  gradation  from  the  lowest  rungs  of  the  adminis- 
trative ladder  to  the  highest,  his  view  remained  the  same, 
has  gaze  was  at  ever}^  stage  riveted  solely  upon  his  superior, 
and  his  superior  never  was  the  Reichstag.  His  source  of  in- 
spiration was  in  the  Schloss,  not  in  the  benches  of  the  pop- 
ularly elected  legislature.  Bethmann-Hollweg  was  sometimes 
frank,  frank  to  the  point  of  rudeness.  "Gentlemen,"  he  said 
at  the  beginning  of  his  chancellorship,  "I  do  not  serve  Parlia- 
ment," and  was  loudly  applauded  for  his  insolence  by  the 
members  of  the  conservative  parties  of  the  Parliament,  thus  a 
victim  of  the  proud  man's  contumely.  And  he  ended  this 
Scornful  speech  with  the  statement  that  there  was  one  role 
which  he  absolutely  refused  to  play,  that  of  the  servant  of  the 
people's  representatives.  Bethmann-Hollweg,  who  has  curi- 
ously been  considered  a  Liberal  hj  some  ill-informed  and  puta- 
tive American  Liberals,  had  the  merit  of  great  clarity  in  his 
consistent,  undeviating  hostility  and  contempt  for  parliamen- 
tarism and  for  democracy.  "When  reproached  by  the  Social- 
ists for  not  resigning  after  a  vote  of  censure,  as  they  do  in 
France,  he  retorted  that  even  children  knew  the  difference  be- 
tween France  and  Germany. 

"I  know  full  well  that  there  are  those  who  are  striving  to 
establish  similar  institutions  here,"  he  said.  "I  shall  oppose 
them  with  all  vaj  force." 

Only  the  other  day  this  "Liberal"  told  the  Right  and  the 
Left,  contemptuously,  that  he  was  serving  neitlier  of  them. 
He  had  a  more  august  master.  Not  only  does  the  Reichstag 
have  no  control  over  the  Government,  not  only  is  it  blocked 
and  immensely  outweighed  by  the  Emperor,  by  the  Bundcs- 
rat,  and  by  the  army,  but  it  is  itself,  even  within  the  sacred 
circle  of  its  impotence,  a  very  inaccurate  representation  of 
the  people.  The  electoral  districts  as  laid  out  in  1871  were 
equal,  each  representing  approximately  100,000  inhabitants. 
But   since   that   day   there   has   been   practically   no    change, 


THE    GOVERNMENT   OF    GERMANY.  7 

although  population  has  increased  in  some,  decreased  in 
others,  so  that  there  now  exists  a  glaring  inequality  between 
the  districts.  The  result  is  very  much  as  though  the  present 
American  Congress  had  been  elected  upon  the  basis  of  the 
district  lines  and  population  of  46  years  ago.  There  are 
some  members  of  the  Reichstag  elected  by  a  few  thousand 
voters,  others  by  the  hundreds  of  thousands.  The  voter  in 
some  districts  counts  for  only  a  thirtieth  of  the  voter  in  cer- 
tain other  districts.  The  large  inadequately  represented 
districts  are  naturally  progressive  cities,  the  small  ones  the 
conservative  comitry  regions.  A  Berlin  deputy  represents 
on  the  average  123,000  voters;  a  deputy  of  east  Prussia,  home 
of  the  far-famed  Junkers,  an  average  of  24,000. 

But  the  fundamental  evil  is  that  the  elections  to  the  Reich- 
stag result  in  the  creation  of  an  assembly  politically  impo- 
tent, which  does  not  control  the  executive  and  whose  powers 
of  legislation  are  subject  to  an  absolute  veto  by  the  Bundes- 
rat,  that  is,  by  the  reigning  princes,  big  and  little.  Ger- 
man Government  is  government  by  the  Emperor  and  the 
dynasties,  with  the  consent  of  the  Reichstag,  a  consent  which 
in  practice  can  be  forced,  if  not  given  voluntarily,  for  the 
Bundesrat  has  the  power  of  dissolving  the  Reichstag  w^hen- 
ever  it  wishes  to,  a  power  always  efficacious  thus  far.  The 
German  governing  classes,  the  princes,  the  bureaucracy, 
agree  with  ]\Ioltke,  who  said  that  the  real  ballot  was  the  car- 
tridge which  the  German  soldier  carried  in  his  cartridge  box, 
that  the  real  representative  of  the  nation  was  the  army. 

For  all  practical  purposes  the  Reichstag  is  merely  a  de- 
bating club,  and  a  debating  club  that  has  no  power  of  seeing 
that  its  will  is  carried  out.  As  late  as  January,  1914,  Dr. 
Friedrieh  Xauiiiann,  of  "^Middle  Europe"  fame,  described  the 
humiliating  position  of  the  body  of  which  he  was  a  member 
in  the  following  words: 

"We  on  the  Left  are  altogether  in  favor  of  the  parlia- 
mentary regime,  by  which  we  mean  that  the  ReicJistag  can 
not  forever  remain  in  a  position  of  subordination.  Why 
does  the  Reichstag  sit  at  all,  why  does  it  pass  resolutions,  if 
behind  it  is  a  waste-paper  basket  into  which  these  resolu- 
tions are  thro^^'u?  The  problem  is  to  change  the  impotence 
of  the  Reichstag  into  some  sort  of  power."    He  added:    "The 


8  THE   GOVERNMENT   OF   GERMANY. 

man  -who  compared  this  House  to  a  hall  of  echoes  was  not 
far  wrong.  To  those  who  are  accustomed  to  do  practical 
work  in  life  it  appears  a  mere  waste  of  time  to  devote  them- 
selves to  this  difficult  and  monotonous  mechanism.  *  *  * 
When  one  asks  the  question,  "What  part  has  the  Reichstag  in 
Geiman  history  as  a  whole?  it  will  be  seen  that  the  part  is  a 
very  limited  one." 

*'Many  millions  among  us,"  said  Dr.  Frank  in  the  Reich- 
stag on  January  23,  1914,  "feel  it  a  burning  shame  that  while 
Germans  achieve  great  things  in  trade  and  industry,  in  politics 
they  are  deprived  of  rights." 

In  the  determination  of  national  policy  the  German  Nation 
has,  therefore,  no  way  of  enforcing  its  wishes  through  the 
only  agency  it  possesses.  In  other  words,  the  nation  does 
not  govern  itself.  The  mainspring  of  power  lies  not  in  the 
Reichstag,  but  in  the  Bundesrat,  the  organ  of  the  princes, 
every  one  of  whom  claims  to  rule  by  Divine  right,  not  one 
of  whom  has  his  policy  dictated  to  him  by  his  people's  repre- 
sentatives— and  in  the  Kingdom  of  Prussia. 

This,  then,  is  the  Government  which  German  propagand- 
ists tell  us  is  "the  most  democratic  in  the  world"  under  a 
constituti(m  which  "requires  no  amendment,  because  it 
represents  by  far  the  highest  of  those  forms  of  political 
organization  which  are  actually  existent  in  the  world." 
Under  it,  adds  another  of  the  intellectual  bodj^guards  of  the 
Hohenzollems,  "we  [Germans]  are  the  freest  people  of  the 
earth."  IIow  simple  and  true,  if  you  only  start  from  the  prin- 
ciple laid  down  by  one  of  the  chief  sj'cophants  that  "Liberty 
which  is  not  German  is  not  liberty." 

The  Kingdom  of  Prussia  is  larger  than  all  the  other  Ger- 
man States  combined,  comprising  two-thirds  of  the  territory 
and  about  two-thirds  of  the  population  of  Germany.  The 
Empire  differs  from  other  confederations  in  that  the  States 
composing  it  are  of  unequal  voting  power  in  both  the  Bun- 
desrat and  the  Reichstag.  It  was  Piiissia  that  made  the 
Gern.an  Empire,  and  made  it  b.y  blood  and  iron,  and  in 
the  Empire  she  lias  installed  herself  at  every  point  of  vantage 
and  guards  jealously  not  only  the  primacy  but  also  the  actual 
power. 


TITE    GOVERNMENT   OP   GERMANY.  \) 

Prussia  has,  since  1850,  had  a  constitution  and  a  parlia- 
ment. What  are  they  like?  The  constitution  was  granted 
by  the  King,  and  nowhere  does  it  recognize  the  sovereignty 
of  the  people.  What  the  monarch  has  granted  he  can  alter 
or  withdraw.  All  the  restriction  the  constitution  imposes 
upon  the  monarchical  principle  is  that  henceforth  it  shall  be 
exercised  and  expressed  in  certain  forms,  with  a  certain  pro- 
cedure. Prussian  statesmen  and  Prussian  jurists  maintain 
with  practical  unanimity  that  this  does  not  mean  any  dimi- 
nution of  the  power  of  the  monarch,  that  the  fact  that  he 
creates  a  legislature  does  not  for  an  instant  mean  that  he  be- 
stows upon  it  a  part  of  the  sovereignty. 

The  legislature  of  Prussia  is  the  Landiag,  which  consists 
of  two  chambers,  the  House  of  Lords  and  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives. The  legislature  does  not  initiate  much  legis- 
lation. Most  of  the  bills  passed  by  it  have  been  proposed  by 
the 'Government;  that  is,  by  the  King.  The  legislature  has 
practically  no  control  over  the  administration;  that  is,  over 
the  powerful  and  permanent  bureaucracy.  It  can  in  this 
sphere  express  opinions  and  practically  nothing  more.  The 
constitution  does  not  determine  the  composition  of  the 
House  of  Lords,  but  leaves  that  to  the  King  to  determine  by 
royal  ordinance.  As  a  matter  of  fact  this  house  is  really 
overwhelmingly  dominated  by  the  land-o^^^ling  nobility,  the 
famous  Junkers,  men  frequently  more  royalist  than  the  King, 
conservative  and  militaristic  to  the  marrow  of  their  bones. 
The  House  is  subject  to  the  absolute  control  of  the  monarch 
through  his  unrestricted  power  to  create  peers.  It  is  really 
a  sort  of  royal  council,  an  extension  or  variation  of  the  royal 
power.  It  is  a  body  that  in  no  sense  represents  the  people 
of  Prussia.  It  has  a  veto  upon  all  legislation,  and  the  King 
also  has  an  absolute  veto. 

Yet  there  exists  another  House  in  this  legislature  which 
enacts  the  laws  that  govern  40,000,000  Prussians — the  so- 
called  House  of  Representatives;  and  marvelous  indeed  is 
the  construction  and  composition  of  that  body.  Every 
Prussian  man  who  has  attained  his  twenty-fifth  year  has  the 
vote.  Is  Prussia,  therefore,  a  democracy?  Not  exactly,  for 
the  exercise  of  this  right  is  so  arranged  that  the  ballot  of  the 
poor  man  is  practically  annihilated.     Universal  suffrage  has 


10  THE   GOVERNMENT   OF    GERMANY, 

been  rendered  illusory.  And  this  is  the  way  it  has  been 
done :  The  voters  are  divided  in  each  electoral  district  into 
three  classes  according  to  wealth.  The  amount  of  taxes 
paid  by  the  district  is  divided  into  three  equal  parts.  Those 
taxpayers  who  pay  the  first  third  are  grouped  into  one 
class;  those,  more  numerous,  who  pay  the  second  third,  into 
another  class ;  those  who  pay  the  remainder,  into  still  an- 
other class.  The  result  is  that  a  veiy  few  rich  men  are  set 
apart  by  themselves,  the  less  rich  by  themselves,  and  the 
poor  by  themselves.  Each  of  these  groups,  voting  sepa- 
rately, elects  an  equal  number  of  delegates  to  a  convention, 
which  convention  chooses  the  delegates  of  that  constituency 
to  the  lower  house  of  the  Prussian  Parliament. 

Thus  in  every  electoral  convention  two-thirds  of  the 
members  belong  to  the  wealthy  or  well-to-do  class.  There 
is  no  chance  in  such  a  system  for  the  poor,  for  the  masses. 
This  system  gives  an  enormous  preponderance  of  political 
power  to  the  rich.  The  first  class  consists  of  very  few  men, 
in  some  districts  of  only  one ;  the  second  is  sometimes  20 
times  as  numerous,  the  third  sometimes  a  hundred,  or  even  a 
thousand  times.  Thus,  though  every  man  has  the  suffrage 
the  vote  of  a  single  rich  man  may  have  as  great  weight  as 
the  votes  of  a  thousand  workingmen.  Universal  suffrage  is 
thus  manipulated  in  such  a  way  as  to  defeat  democracy 
decisively  and  to  consolidate  a  privileged  class  in  power  in 
the  only  branch  of  the  government  that  has  even  the  ap- 
pearance of  being  of  popuhir  origin.  Bismarck,  no  friend  of 
liberalism,  once  characterized  this  electoral  system  as  the 
worst  ever  created.  Its  shrieking  injustice  is  shown  by  the 
fact  that  in  1900  the  Social  Democrats,  who  actually  cast  a 
majority  of  the  votes,  got  only  7  seats  out  of  nearly  -lOO.  It 
is  one  of  the  most  undemocratic  systems  in  existence. 

The  voters  do  not  choose  their  representatives  directly. 
The  suffrage  is  indirect,  and  is,  moreover,  as  we  have  seen, 
grossly  unequal.  As  this  system  is  in  vogue  for  Prussian 
city  elections  as  well  as  for  state  elections,  it  throws  power, 
whether  in  the  municipality  or  in  the  nation,  into  the  hands 
of  men  of  wealth. 

In  1908  there  were  293,000  voters  in  the  first  class,  1,0G5,- 
240   in   the   second,    6,324,079    in   the   third.     The   first   class 


THE   GOVERNMENT   OP    GERMANY.  11 

represented  4  per  cent,  the  second  ]4  per  cent,  the  third  82 
per  cent  of  the  popiihition.  Iii  CoUigne  the  first  class  com- 
prised 370  electors,  the  second  2,584,  while  the  third  had 
22,324.  The  first  class  cliose  the  same  number  of  electors 
as  the  third.  Thus,  370  rich  men  had  the  same  voting 
capacity  as  22,324  proletarians.  In  Saarbriicken  the  Baron 
von  Sturm  formed  the  first  class  all  by  himself  and  announced 
complacently  that  he  did  not  suffer  from  his  isolation.  In  one 
of  the  Berlin  districts  Herr  Heffte,  a  manufacturer  of  sausages, 
formed  the  first  class. 

This  sj'Stem  would  seem  to  be  outrageous  enough  by  reason 
of  its  monstrous  plutocratic  caste.  But  this  is  not  all.  This 
reactionary  edifice  is  appropriately  cro\Mied  by  another 
device — oral  voting.  Neither  in  the  primary  nor  the  second- 
ary voting  is  a  secret  ballot  used.  Voting  is  not  even  by  a 
written  or  printed  ballot  but  by  the  spoken  word.  Thus 
everyone  exercises  his  right  publicly  in  the  presence  of  his 
superior  or  his  patron  or  employer  or  his  equals  or  the  official 
representative  of  the  King.  In  such  a  country  as  Prussia, 
where  the  police  are  notoriously  ubiquitous,  what  a  weapon 
for  absolutism !  The  great  landox^Tiers,  the  great  manufac- 
turers, the  State,  can  easily  bring  all  the  pressure  they  desire 
to  bear  upon  the  voter,  exercising  his  wretched  rudiment  of 
political  power. 

On  I  February  10,  1910,  Herr  von  Bethmann-Hollweg  de- 
fended this  system  in  the  Landtag  with  great  frankness:  ''We 
are  opposed  to  secret  voting  because,  instead  of  developing 
the  sense  of  responsibility  in  the  voter,  it,  on  the  other  hand, 
favors  the  terrorism  which  Socialists  exercise  over  the  bour- 
geois voters. ' ' 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  a  large  number  of  voters  prefer  to 
forego  their  miserable  privilege  entirely  and  stay  at  home. 
In  1903,  23.6  per  cent  only  of  them  voted  for  the  Prussian 
House  of  Representatives,  while  the  same  year  75  per  cent 
voted  in  the  elections  for  the  Kcichstag,  where  the  secret 
ballot  is  used.  Of  those  who  failed  to  vote,  much  the 
larger  percentage  is  from  the  third  class,  whose  members  evi- 
dently feel  the  emptiness  of  the  privileges  they  enjoy  in  this 
"people's  kingdom  of  the  Ilohenzollern, "  as  the  Kaiser  allui'- 
ingly  describes  it. 


12  THE   GOVERNMENT   OF    GERMANtY. 

An  additional  evidence  as  to  the  perfection  of  the  "peo- 
ple's kingdom"  is  this:  With  the  exception  of  a  thoroughly 
insignificant  measure  passed  in  June,  1906,  there  has  been 
no  change  in  the  electoral  districts  since  1858.  No  account 
has  been  taken  of  the  changes  in  the  population,  and  there 
are  the  same  or  v/orse  disparities  than  there  are  in  the  case 
of  the  Reichstag,  as  previously  stated.  It  thus  happens 
that  3,000,000  inhabitants  of  four  large  Prussian  districts 
return  9  representatives,  while  three  other  million,  divided 
among  forty  smaller  districts,  return  66.  Here  again  the 
natural  result  of  the  change  of  the  population  owing  to  the 
economic  evolution  has  inordinately  increased  the  influence 
of  the  rural  districts,  prevailingly  Conservative. 

In  1903  under  this  sj'stem  324,157  conservative  votes 
elected  143  representatives;  but  314,149  Social  Democratic 
votes  did  not  secure  the  election  of  a  single  member. 

Neither  in  the  Empire,  nor  in  Prussia  nor  an^^  of  the  other 
States  that  compose'  the  Empire,  does  the  elected  chamber 
control  the  Government.  In  every  case  the  Prince  has  the 
absolute  veto.  Where  there  are  second  chamber^",  as  in 
many  of  the  States,  they  are  not  elected,  but  are  nominated, 
and  are  a  bulwark  of  a  privileged  class.  And  in  Prussia 
even  the  so-called  popular  House  is  merely  another  name 
for  a  privileged  class.  Neither  in  the  Nation  nor  in  the 
States  are  the  ministers  controlled  by  the  popular  assemblies. 
These  may  vote  a  lack  of  confidence  as  often  as  they  feel  like 
it.  The  ministers  Avill  go  right  on  as  long  as  the  Emperor, 
King,  Grand  Duke,  or  Prince  desires.  You  can  not  amend 
the  eou.stitution  in  any  German  State  without  the  consent 
of  the  Prince.  You  can  not  amend  the  constitution  of  the 
Empire  without  the  consent  of  one  man,  William  II.  Eeich- 
siag  committees  may  discuss  and  propose  amendments  to 
their  hearts'  content.  After  they  have  obtained  the  eon- 
sent  of  the  Reichstag  a  rocky  road  opens  out  broadly  ahead 
of  thern.  For  they  must  have  the  approval  of  the  Bundes- 
rat,  which  is  appointed  by  the  reigning  Princes  of  Germany, 
and  is  obliged  to  vote  as  they  direct.  No  amendment  can 
pass  the  Bundesrat  if  14  votes  out  of  the  61  are  east  against 
it.  Of  these  61,  Prussia  has  20.  The  Prusf^inn  votes  are 
cast  as  the  King  of  Prussia  directs.     If  every  individual  in 


THE   GOVERNMENT   OF    GERMANY.  13 

Germany  except  this  one,  and  including  the  other  Kings 
and  Dukes,  wanted  a  change  in  the  constitution,  they 
couldn't  get  it  if  William  II  said  No!  This  is  the  people's 
kingdom  with  a  vengeance. 

The  power  of  the  Prussian  Crown  is  virtually  absolute  — 
"absolutism  under  constitutional  forms,"  said  Rudolph 
Gneist,  once  considered  in  Germany  a  great  authority  on  pub- 
lic law,  before  the  modern  school  of  publicists — Laband, 
George  ]\Ieyer,  Bornhak,  Jellinek,  Treitschke — became  the 
teachers  of  Gennany,  and  taught  the  most  reactionary  political 
philosophy  that  Europe  has  heard  in  a  century.  They  have 
taught  that  the  complete,  uncontrolled  power  of  the  "Gov- 
ernment" (Regierung)  is  in  the  power  of  the  prince;  that  the 
granting  of  constitutions  did  not  mean  the  recognition  of 
popular  sovereignty  in  the  slightest  degree;  that  legislatures 
are  not  representations  of  the  people  but  are  mere  organs 
of  the  State;  that  legislatures  have  no  right  to  bring  the 
State  to  a  standstill;  that  is,  have  no  right  to  refuse  a  budget 
until  their  wishes  are  respected;  that,  if  they  do,  they  are 
acting  not  in  a  constitutional  but  in  a  revolutionary  sense; 
that  if  such  a  step  is  taken,  then  it  is  the  right  of  the  sover- 
eign to  recur  to  the  principle  that  existed  before  the  granting 
of  the  constitution,  namely  absolute  monarchy,  and  to  do 
what  he  regards  as  wise. 

German  legislatures  are  impotent  and  ineffective.  The 
effective  seat  of  political  power  in  Germany  is,  as  it  has 
always  been,  in  the  monarchs.  Germans  may  have  the 
right  to  vote,  but  Napoleon  I  and  Napoleon  III  showed 
men  (and  Bismarck  among  others)  that  that  made  no  dif- 
ference, if  the  vote  led  nowhere,  if  the  body  elected  by  the 
voters  was  carefully  and  completely  nullified  by  other  bodies 
over  which  the  voters  had  no  control  whatever. 

The  legislatures  of  Germany  are  really  only  royal  councils, 
consultative  assemblies.  Bismarck's  defiance  of  the  Prus- 
sian Chamber  and  the  voters  who  elected  it,  in  the  conflict 
period,  from  1862  to  1866,  has  been  decisive  for  the  fate  of 
popular  government  in  Germany. 

Prince  von  Billow,  the  ablest  chancellor  of  the  Empire 
since  Bismarck,  said  in  1914:  "Prussia  attained  her  great- 
ness as  a  country  of  soldiers  and  officials,  and  as  such  she 


14  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF    GERMANY. 

was  able  to  accomplish  the  work  of  German  union ;  to  this 
day  she  is  still,  in  all  essentials,  a  State  of  soldiers  and  offi- 
cials." The  governing  classes  are,  in  Prussia,  which  in  turn 
governs  Germany,  the  monarch,  the  aristocracy,  and  a  bu- 
reaucracy of  military  and  civil  officials,  responsible  to  the  King 
alone.  The  determining  factor  in  the  State  is  the  personality 
of  the  King. 

Prussia  has  been  the  strongest  obstacle  the  democratic 
movement  of  the  nineteenth  and  twentieth  centuries  has 
encountered.  Germany  in  1914  was  less  liberal  than  in 
1848.  The  most  serious  blow  that  the  principle  of  repre- 
sentative government  received  during  that  century  was  the 
one  she  received  at  the  hands  of  Bismarck,  "We  have  expert 
testimony  of  the  highest  and  most  official  sort  that  the  effects 
of  that  blow  are  not  outlived.  Prince  von  Biilow,  writing 
in  1914,  said: 

Liberalism,  in  spite  of  its  change  of  attitude  in  national  questions,  has 
to  this  day  not  recovered  from  the  catastrophic  defeat  -which  Prince  Bis- 
marck inflicted  nearly  half  a  century  ago  on  the  party  of  progress  which 
still  clings  to  the  ideals  and  principles  of  1848. 

Parliaments  will  not  control  in  Germany,  the  civil  power 
will  not  dominate  the  military,  until  the  present  regime, 
exalted  and  strengthened  by  the  victories  of  1864-1870,  is 
debased  and  disgraced  by  resounding  and  disastrous  defeats. 
It  is  doubtful  if  there  will  be  any  change  even  then,  for  the 
German  people  are  the  most  docile  in  Europe,  with  no  taste 
for  revolutions,  with  no  revolutions  to  their  credit,  as  have 
England,  France,  America,  Russia,  even  China.  Personal 
governnioiit  has  brought  the  present  calamity  upon  the 
world,  and  tjie  possessors  of  that  power  will  fight  to  retain 
it  and  will,  if  necessary,  treat  the  German  people  with  the 
same  ruthlessness  as  they  have  treated  the  other  peoples  of 
Europe. 

Let  us  not  be  hoodwinked  by  Easter  messages  from  Will- 
iam II,  or  by  cloudy  and  ambiguous  utterances  of  his  spokes- 
man, as  presaging  forthcoming  liberalization  of  Germany. 
Prussian  kings  have  shown  that  not  only  are  treaties  scraps 
of  paper,  but  that  constitutions  are  also  scraps  of  paper 
when    their    provisions    annoy    the    monarch.     And   Prussian 


THE   GOVERNMENT   OF   GERMANY.  15 

monarclis  have  never  been  squeamish  about  perjury.  The 
famous  Easter  "promises"  of  this  year  will  not  be  a  greater 
hindrance  to  imperial  and  royal  volition  than  previous, 
celebrated  promises  to  Belgium  and  to  the  United  States 
have  been. 

Germany  has  renounced  liberty  in  order  the  better  to 
carry  on  her  national  industry — war.  As  Harden,  the  Ber- 
lin journalist,  has  said:  "In  order  to  be  strong  she  has 
rejected  the  great  modern  comfort  of  democracy."  The 
ethical  superiority  of  this  people  over  all  others,  so  confidently 
asserted  as  a  justification  of  her  leadership  in  the  Avorld,  is 
shown  in  this  phrase  of  Prof.  Delbrlick,  "Blessed  be  the  hand 
that  traced  those  lines,"  that  is,  that  falsified  the  Ems  dis- 
patch. This  is  the  Prussian  beatitude.  For  it  brought  a 
successful  war — a  war  for  prestige  and  power  and  lucre. 
The  present  war  was  intended  to  repeat  on  a  far  larger  scale 
the  inspiring  achievement.  And,  if  it  should  succeed,  we 
would  expect  to  see  democracy  flourish  in  Germany  by  the 
same  token  that  we  would  expect  to  gather  grapes  of  thorns 
and  figs  of  thistles. 

All  this  parade  of  constitutional  reforms  must  not  becloud 
the  issue.  The  constitutions  of  Germany  are  paper  con- 
stitutions. Long  before  it  was  the  fashion  to  treat  solemn 
international  agreements  as  mere  scraps  of  paper  the  Im- 
perial and  the  Prussian  constitutions  were  ignored  and 
flagrantly  infringed  in  many  of  their  provisions  with  im- 
punity by  the  governing  authorities.  In  Germany  the 
army  is  far  more  powerful  than  the  Bcichstag,  and  both 
know  it.  Even  the  Bundcsrat  is  hardly,  if  at  all,  more 
powerful  than  the  Great  General  Staff.  And  the  army  is 
not  under  the  control  of  the  Reichstag  or  the  legislature  of 
Prussia.  It  stands  outside  aiui  it  stands  above.  In  Prussia 
the  army  is  a  kingdom  witliiii  a  kingdom.  Within  the  army 
the  Prussian  King  has  preserved  all  the  prerogatives  of  an 
absolute  monarch.  No  authority  in  the  state  can  inter- 
vene between  the  army  and  the  sovereign.  The  control  of 
the  army  belongs  to  the  King.  The  army  is  not  the  army  of 
the  nation,  but  is  the  King's  army. 

"The  dearest  desire  of  every  Prussian,"  said  Bethmann- 
Ilollweg  in  the  Prussian  Landtag  January  10,  1914,  "is  to 


16  THE    GOVERNMENT    OF    GERMANY. 

see  the  King's  army  remain  completely  under  the  control  of 
the  King  and  not  to  become  the  army  of  Parliament. ' ' 

Prof.  Delbriick,  of  the  University  of  Berlin,  in  a  recent 
book  describes  the  special  character  of  the  German  army. 
From  the  point  of  view  of  sentiment  the  army  exemplifies 
not  the  modern  notion  of  patriotism,  but  the  earlier  notion 
of  loyalty  to  a  chieftain;  the  soldiers  serve  the  King,  not  the 
fatherland.  "The  King  is  their  comrade  and  they  are  at- 
tached to  him  as  to  their  war  lord,  and  this  is  the  very 
foundation  of  our  national  life.  The  essenca  of  our  monarchy 
resides  in  its  relations  with  the  army.  Whoever  knows  our 
officers  must  know  that  they  would  never  tolerate  the  Govern- 
ment of  a  minister  of  war  issuing  from  Parliament." 

One  has  only  to  recall  the  great  chapters  in  English  history 
which  tell  of  the  struggle  for  liberty  to  laiow  that  it  has  been 
obtained  solely  by  the  recognition  of  the  supremacy  of  Parlia- 
ment over  royal  prerogatives  and  over  military  power. 


<^S:^"» 


